Mets place Megill on IL with elbow sprain, recall Garza

ATLANTA -- For months, the Mets enjoyed the benefits of an uncommonly deep cache of starting pitching depth. They placed faith in a slew of offseason acquisitions and mostly succeeded in keeping them healthy.

That depth is now being depleted at a rapid rate.

The Mets on Tuesday placed right-hander Tylor Megill on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. An MRI revealed no structural damage for Megill, only a significant amount of inflammation in the joint. But even in a best-case scenario, manager Carlos Mendoza said, Megill will miss 4-5 weeks.

“Considering all things elbow related, I would say this is probably the best outcome that could happen from something like this,” Megill said.

During his last start Saturday against the Rays, Megill said he experienced “some pulling” in his right elbow, mostly on offspeed pitches. He hit two batters in the outing, both on sliders, and spiked another pitch in front of home plate. As he fought through the elbow discomfort, Megill added, he had no idea where his sliders were going. But Megill’s MRI results eased his mind that this is the type of injury that could linger.

The initial plan is for Megill to rest for 7-10 days. If he is symptom-free at that time, he’ll begin ramping up again. If not, he’ll rest for longer.

Megill held a 3.95 ERA in 14 starts, including a 1.09 mark over his first five outings and a 5.56 ERA since.

“Obviously, I wanted to be healthy, make every start that I can and go out and perform,” Megill said. “I’m just going to take time, get healthy and reassess here in a week and a half.”

In a vacuum, this would be the type of injury the Mets could handle without much issue. But the team does not operate in a vacuum. Last week, the Mets lost ace Kodai Senga to a right hamstring strain that should also sideline him until at least mid-July. Making matters worse, Frankie Montas has struggled mightily on his rehab assignment while attempting to return from a right lat strain. Montas is due to make one final start Wednesday, after which point his rehab clock will expire.

On top of all that, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn have a combined 10.93 ERA over the past 10 days.

With Megill on the IL, the Mets’ rotation consists of David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Canning and Blackburn. The team recalled reliever Justin Garza to take Megill’s roster spot for now, before adding a spot starter to pitch Friday in Philadelphia.

The identity of that spot starter isn’t yet clear. Left-hander Brandon Waddell pitched Tuesday for Triple-A Syracuse, taking him out of contention for the assignment. Right-hander Justin Hagenman is the most logical option, given the fact that he made a successful spot start earlier this season and holds a 3.18 ERA over his last five games at Syracuse.

Beyond Hagenman, the Mets have a trio of top prospects at Syracuse in second-ranked Brandon Sproat, fifth-ranked Nolan McLean and 14th-ranked Blade Tidwell. But only McLean has demonstrated consistent success in the Minors, and he has a grand total of 38 2/3 career innings at Triple-A. In the past, the Mets have hesitated to promote those types of prospects to fill temporary holes.

And team officials do view Friday as a spot start, because they remain optimistic that Montas can move into the rotation next week. Montas, who has a 13.17 ERA on his rehab assignment, has been working with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner on what the club believes is a series of mechanical issues. Mets officials see Montas as fully healthy at this point and ready to contribute, provided he demonstrates improvement in his final Minor League outing.

“Hopefully, he gets through tomorrow, we see some good results, he bounces back and then he’s part of the rotation,” Mendoza said Tuesday. “That will be the ideal scenario.”